Foiled by Ficus!

[Dennis Antoine]

Hello my fellow eco-friendly peeps!

 

I put in a composter, and all things were happening nicely. Then one day examining the contents, it seemed quite dry, no worms , no moisture. Inspection revealed a large ficus root coming up the center of the unit and dispersing many hairlike rootlets, which was taking all the nutrients including water.

Said, ok, I will now put down a concrete slab that was obtained at Home Depot. Same scenario, all seemed well for first few months then, not to my surprise, the same scenario: dry contents, crumbly soil. 

This inspection revealed that the very wily ficus now came up through the back, in between the concrete and plastic com poster. Ok............

So now, i have resorted to a tumbling composter. This accelerates the whole process, and literally what took months before can now be accomplished in a few weeks. 

The contents are superior soil, composed of peels, skins, seeds, and pits and cobs and plant sources. These are mixed with coffee grounds and carbon containing browns to make an appropriate mixture.

The quality is extraordinary. You cannot buy fertilizer of this caliber. Loaded with worms and smelling rich like walking in a sequoia forest, it allows us to use this mixture on container plants like tomatoes, herbs, roses  and flowering plants.

 

Doc DA

Coral Springs, FL

[phone]